The musings of a kid colliding with middle age with the grace of an angry hippo, racing, on ice.

Doing it all the hard way...

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Coffee and Lies 2016 Seasonal Bonk

One donut to rule them all!

I’ve been going
on long rides for years yet every year as the winter withers and spring takes
over I find myself on a long ride running out of food.The ride becomes epic for no reason other
than poor planning, judgment or execution.

Did I forget
food or forget to eat it?Did I think I
would be okay and decide not to eat the bar in my pocket?Every year I make the mistake and find myself
suffering from The Bonk and when the ride is done I am shattered.

Thankfully for
my sensitive ego I usually am alone when I make my yearly mistake.If you are going to screw up it is best if
nobody sees it. In 2016 it happened a while ago and my rides since have been
characterized by jersey pockets bulging with bars, chews and gel.

This past
weekend it was one of my brothers who found himself smacking his lips and
wondering why he had gone from twenty-five km per hour to fifteen.He later commented that it was a rookie
mistake but it is one we all seem to repeat.

I could tell he
was struggling and I was glad I had an extra bar to offer him (remember the
bulging pockets?).Even though we were
only a couple km from home he scarfed it down and got some energy flowing.

We are a
competitive bunch and despite our status as teammates we are more than willing
to drop each other on a climb.Even so,
when one of our own is struggling we revert to our “no rider left behind”
philosophy.

I’m anxious to
see how our bike trip is this year.It
isn’t hard for me to imagine more regrouping than we saw four years ago.I could be wrong.Maybe my blood sugar is low…..